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Tournament: 39th Varsity Match • Venue: City of London CC, 7 Grocer's Hall Court, London EC • Date: Monday 27 March 1911
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Friday May 23, 2025 3:33 PM
The 39th Varsity Chess Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University was held at City of London CC, 7 Grocer's Hall Court, London EC, on Monday 27 March 1911.
| 1910« 1911 Varsity Chess Match »1912 | |||
| Bd | Oxford University | vs | Cambridge University |
| 1b | Alexander Percival Waterfield (Christ Church) | 1-0 | Henry Evans Foster (Trinity) |
| 2w | Herbert Neville Bewley (Wadham) | ½-½ | Gilbert Henry Stevens (Caius) |
| 3b | Robert Wilbur Burgess (Lincoln) | 1-0 | Frederick Edmund Glanville Southwell (St Catharine's) |
| 4w | Alan Grant Macfarlane (Worcester) | 0-1 | Eric Augustus Coad-Pryor (Trinity) |
| 5b | Benjamin Allen Bull (Jesus) | 1-0 | Arthur James Turner (Caius) |
| 6w | Godfrey Davies (Pembroke) | 1-0 | Duncan Wakeman Wooldridge (St John's) |
| 7b | Frank Colin Bryan (Jesus) | 0-1 | Allen (E) Watkins (St John's) |
| 4½-2½ | |||
Main sources: Oxford-Cambridge Chess Matches (1873-1987), (compiled by Jeremy Gaige, Philadelphia 1987); Sergeant, Philip W, A Century of Chess (London 1934, referred to in the text as PWS); BCM, April 1911, p154; The Field, 1 April 1911; Ancestry.com; FindMyPast.com; Who Was Who 1897-2007; Wikipedia. All seven games available in the download.
Notes
(1) The two captains were Waterfield (Oxford) and Foster (Cambridge) who met on board 1.
BCM, April 1911, p154
"Oxford v. Cambridge.—The annual match between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge was played at the City of London Chess Club on Monday, March 27th, and resulted in a victory for Oxford by 4½ points to 2½. The total record of matches contested is Cambridge won 22, Oxford won 14, and three matches drawn." [board results]
Evening News (London), 28 March 1911
"THE 'VARSITY CHESS MATCH. In these few strenuous spring days, which see the brawn and muscle of the 'Varsities striving against each other on field, path, and river, little attention is attracted by the chess match, which might be taken to repreeent the struggle of brain against brain.
"The match ended in a victory for Oxford by 4½ to 2½, owing to a lapse by the Cambridge man who was playing the last game to a finish. He had a draw in hand, which would have meant drawing the match, but, playing hastily, he lost."
Westminster Gazette, 1 April 1911
The thirty-ninth annual match between Oxford and Cambridge was played on Monday at the City of London Chess Club, and resulted in a win for Oxford by 4½ points to 2½. At the close of play the score was 3½ to 2½ in Oxford’s favour, one game [Davies-Wooldridge] having then to be adjudicated. This was awarded to Oxford. Two moves earlier the Cambridge player had the better game. [match results]
The Field, 1 April 1911
"OXFORD v. CAMBRIDGE.
"Thirty-eight years ago the annual matches between Oxford and Cambridge were started, and the meeting place was the City of London Chess Club, where three successive matches were held. Subsequently the then newly established West End Chess Club invited the Universities, and the arrangements were carried out with due éclat. A dinner after the match took place at the Freemasons’ Tavern.
"But the late British Chess Club, where the University matches were held afterwards, takes the palm for generous and hospitable entertainment. The rooms were elaborately decorated in Varsity colours, and the banquet and smoking concert following the match was attended by numerous distinguished visitors. The late Sir George Newnes generally presided, but on one occasion the chair was taken by the Lord Mayor.
"After the British Chess Club, the Universities met at the St George's Chess Club, and now they have returned to the original place of meeting—thirty-eight years ago—the City of London Chess Club.
"This match commenced on Monday [27 March] at one o’clock, and concluded at six o’clock. Cambridge winning the toss for move, took the White men on the odd numbered four boards, having thus the White men four times to Oxford’s three. Oxford won the match, which should have been a draw as matters stood, viz., when time was called there remained only one unfinished game, and this being adjudicated upon by Messrs Hoffer snd Ward, was given in favour of Oxford, the Cantab having thrown it away just a move or two before the call of time, when he had a won game.
"But for this mishap the match would have been drawn, as it should have been, for there is nothing to choose between the teams. By a curious coincidence this very game is the most interesting of the series, and both Messrs Davies and Wooldridge displayed considerable ingenuity."
BCM, May 1911, p206
"Universities' Chess Week, 1911.—The combined Oxford and Cambridge teams, with the assistance of seniors from both Universities, played their usual series of matches with the London clubs (preparatory to the Inter-University match) from March 20th to 28th, They met with considerable success, beating Metropolitan, Insurance, and Sydenham, and putting up a fairly good resistance against the City of London and Hampstead, in addition to which a weak "combined" team was just beaten by London University, who had the assistance of Mr. Herbert Jacobs on board 1. It should be mentioned that Metropolitan were not at full strength owing to a slight misunderstanding as to dates."[full score]
1911 University Matches
| Date | Oxf/Cam | Score | Opponents | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 20 March | Combined Universities | 10½-7½ | Metropolitan | Mecca Café, Gresham St, London |
| Tuesday 21 March | Combined Universities | 6-10 | Hampstead | Stanfield House, Hampstead |
| Wednesday 22 March | Combined Universities | 7½-12½ | City of London | 7 Grocer's Hall Court, EC |
| Thursday 23 March | Combined Universities | 14-6 | Insurance | Cabin Restaurant, 6 Old Jewry, EC |
| Saturday 25 March | Combined Universities | 7-9 | London University | University College, London |
| Monday 27 March | Oxford University | 4½-2½ | Cambridge University | 7 Grocer's Hall Court, EC |
| Tuesday 28 March | Combined Universities | 8½-11½ | Sydenham and Forest Hill | Tiffin's Restaurant |
| Bd | Combined Universities | vs | London University |
| 1 | John Matthias Bee (St Catharine's, Cambridge) | 0-1 | Herbert Levi Jacobs |
| 2 | John Rowland Hanning (New, Oxford) | 1-0 | Arthur Makinson Fox |
| 3 | Herbert Neville Bewley (Wadham, Oxford) | 0-1 | Dr. Aston Ridley Dale |
| 4 | Alfred William Foster (St John's, Cambridge) | 1-0 | Frederick Samson Dünkelsbühler |
| 5 | Henry Evans Foster (Trinity, Cambridge) | 0-1 | Dr. Douglas Robert Chaplin Shepherd |
| 6 | Robert Wilbur Burgess (Lincoln, Oxford) | ½-½ | Ronald George Armstrong |
| 7 | Eric Augustus Coad-Pryor (Trinity, Cambridge) | 1-0 | H G Richardson |
| 8 | Benjamin Allen Bull (Jesus, Oxford) | ½-½ | Major Francis Hooper Rawlins |
| 9 | Godfrey Davies (Pembroke, Oxford) | 1-0 | Edward Claude Linton |
| 10 | Frank Colin Bryan (Jesus, Oxford) | 0-1 | Michael Davies |
| 11 | Duncan W Wooldridge (St John's, Cambridge | 1-0 | Dr. Charles Henry Shorney Webb |
| 12 | George Carruthers (Merton, Oxford) | 0-1 | Henry Clifford Care1 |
| 13 | Willy Israel Katzenstein (Oxford) | 0-1 | John Nathaniel Beadles |
| 14 | Allen Watkins (St John's, Cambridge) | 0d1 | Herbert Edward Soper |
| 15 | Walter Gordon Arrowsmith (Caius, Cambridge) | 1-0 | H(erbert) J(ames) North |
| 16 | Default | 0d1 | Bertrand Peter Allinson |
| Venue: University College, London | 7-9 | 25 March 1911 |
1 H C Care was a Cambridge undergraduate at the time of this match and it remains unexplained why he should have been playing for London University. JS
File updated
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| 17 April 2022 | Original upload. Biographical details and match reports to be added later. |
| 21 February 2024 | The complete score of the bottom board game A.Watkins 1-0 F.Bryan is now available (and it becomes obvious why the editor of The Field decided to dispense with it). |
| 23 May 2025 | Added details of other matches played during universities week, plus an amendment to the Davies-Wooldridge game (bd 6, Varsity match). |